The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

October 29, 2008

Shenango-Middlesex consolidation in voters’ hands now

By Patrick W. Connelly

WEST MIDDLESEX, SHENANGO TOWNSHIP — With the days dwindling until one of the biggest elections Shenango Township and West Middlesex residents have had in years, it’s time to let voters make their choice, officials said Wednesday night.

Council and supervisors have studied the benefits of the two communities joining as the same municipality and it’s “up to citizens now,” consolidation consultant Alan Kugler, of PA Futures, said.

“Only citizens can take that next step,” he told more than a hundred people on hand for the final meeting on Tuesday’s ballot question in West Middlesex High School’s cafeteria.

“Whichever way that question goes, it will be a watershed moment,” Kugler added.

The vote’s so important, even State Rep. Mark Longietti, Hermitage, D-7th District, stopped by to let residents know what’s at stake.

The state Department of Community and Economic Development gives priority in programs they fund to municipalities it sees working together, he said.

The programs help with things like infrastructure and streetscape projects and DCED can help provide low-interest loans where it sees fit, Longietti said.

DCED favors mergers and will do anything it can to support it, he said. The state’s philosophy is to allot all it can financially to these communities, he added.

Shenango Township and West Middlesex both have seen their populations shrink in the past 10 years. With children in both attending the same school district, they already seem like the same community in everything but government, Councilman Bob Lucich said.

If something’s not done soon to reverse trends in demographics that community will “crumble,” he said.

The study done by council and supervisors predicts the new municipality could run off a tax base of about 8 mills — the township’s current rate.

Each mill would bring in about $40,000. Borough residents currently pay over 20 mills in taxes, but each mill only brings in about $8,000.

While it would be nice to stay near the same rate, it’s unreasonable to think that taxes may not go up a little for township residents, Supervisor David Garrett said.

The benefits of consolidation and the advantage it’ll bring to future generations, though, far outweigh that small increase, he said.

Consolidation saves money by eliminating duplicated services, Kugler said.

“The government (then becomes) far less expensive” to run, he said.

When out-of-town businesses see a community can work together, it makes that area more attractive to locate a potential new store or other business, Kugler noted.



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